Oh Boy… another deploy! This is what I always feel before trying to move a dbQwikSite database web site to a hosting server. I’ve got to worry about file folders, file transfers, connection strings, data base installs, file permissions and none of it is as easy as I would like it to be.
I’m not the only one that does not look forward to sorting out all the differences between my perfect PC test and some distant server looming out there in cyberspace. Users have been asking for help deploying for quite some time now. That time has arrived with the release of dbQwikSite version 5.4. They say necessity is the mother of invention, I say laziness is a close second. I therefore confess that my laziness is the driving force behind this most recent release. “Just make it easy for me.” was the mandate I gave to the development team. And about 6 weeks later I am happy to report that I can be lazy as I like and STILL get my site to deploy!
So what magic do we get in this version? The Highlights are: a new, smarter deploy wizard, a better more robust FTP, and on-line administrative pages. The new deploy wizard now is smarter a producing working connection strings for your host. The all new folder based file selection for deployment is a breeze to use. Say “bye-bye” to dbQwikFTP, I doubt too many users will shed a tear over that. Say “hello” to FileZilla (free open source) file transfer tool. Simply put, it just works better than the now depreciated dbQwikFTP. Smooth integration between the Deploy Wizard and FileZilla makes short work of file transfer; all I have to do is click the start the queue button and all my preselected folders are moved to the right place on my server. A cool feature at the end of deploy, let’s me launch my site in my browser for easy testing. One option is to launch the all new dbQwikSite “Site Admin” console. Arriving in the console, I can install MySQL tables if I had generated the scripts, I can see what scripting languages are supported on my server, I can troubleshoot connection strings. Neat, I think I like being lazy! This version make it much more of “a joy to deploy” my sites.
While the team worked hard to make sure I could be a real sloth, not every deployment task can be automated. So to accompany all this new software wizardry is the infamous “missing deployment guide”. It’s not missing anymore! You can access the new on-line deployment guide from the either the “Help” or “dbQwikHosting” menus.
There are other new features in 5.4 along with the regular batch of bug fixes. Details can be found in the release notes. Version 5.4 is a free upgrade for all version 5 users and is available via live-update.
